"Today society accepts the idea of improving one's image," says Dr. Ivo Pitanguy, Brazil's most famous plastic surgeon. Here a patient receives an injection of hyaluronic acid to plump up her lips at the Brazilian Society for Aesthetic Medicine in Rio de Janeiro in 2008.
Antonio Scorza/AFP/Getty Images
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The number of eyelid lifts reimbursed by Medicare more than tripled from 2001 to 2011, according to the Center for Public Integrity. Here, a woman is prepared for the procedure, along with an eyebrow lift.
Media for Medical/UIG via Getty Images
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New York plastic surgeon Brad Jacobs holds a silicone gel breast implant in 2006. That year the FDA allowed silicone implants back on the market, after a 14- year hiatus.
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